Starbucks
by Her Name Is Erika
Summary: Because of Starbucks, one romance was being rekindled, while another contined to bloom... LQ. Oneshot.


**A/N: New one-shot. It has some relevance to Zoey 101, I promise. But be warned. You'll get lost in the beginning. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Zoey 101, or Starbucks.**

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**Starbucks**

There was an eerie silence that hung over the Los Angeles office. It was so thick, and it surprised the occupants that they were suffocating from it. She was a business shark with an exterior and demeanor that was synonymous to that of ice. Her green eyes shone like they were always searching her new opportunities whether the corporate world she was so submerged into rendered it positive. She had the power to make dreams, or crush them in between her slender and manicured fingers, and truthfully she loved the control.

The black office chair swiveled around to meet his eyes. In them, shone a certain degree of cockiness that was so nostalgic she couldn't help but allow a small smirk to grow on her lips. A perfectly done eyebrow was raised in the middle-aged man's direction. She drummed her nails against her mahogany desk, just for her own amusement.

"You were always a cold, calculated person, Jenny…"

A sarcastic smile made its way onto her face, her nail-drumming getting her methodic. It was like a pattern, and there were no surprises, because she had the power to figure out how the tapping would start and end. Her light brown tresses fell around her shoulders, while some was clipped in a messy, but professional half-updo, and her bangs fell into her eyes.

"That's _Jennifer_, Malcolm," she corrected, sharply, and still managed to keep the undertone of anger out of her voice. "…and I'm glad you know me so well, but you know what I wanted to know?"

"What?"

The word came out so smooth, so petty, and trivial. It really boggled her mind how he had to ability to pretend serious things weren't worth two shits. It was pretty pathetic she kept asking herself the same question for nearly two decades. With a Double Chocolaty Frappuccino Blended Crème, she could forget.

Jennifer could forget that she was a naïve sixteen year old that happened to fall for him. She was young, stupid and foolish. That's it. Case closed. Yet, Jennifer liked keeping her ice walls, chills and all.

"What are you doing here? Or could it be that your fourth wife is only Ronnie's age," she retorted, coldly. Veronica Reese was the second child at twenty, and was currently studying abroad in Madrid. Logan had another sister named Megan, who was twenty-seven, and pregnant with her first child. She had gotten married last summer. Because Logan and Veronica were only four years apart they were closer and more relatable, but Logan loved Megan and was psyched to be an uncle. Jennifer stood up, staring Malcolm in the eyes. "…because if you've just made that discovery recently, then there's no hope for you."

Malcolm feigned hurt, placing a hand on his heart, "Ouch. Wow, I mean, that's a new parenting style I've never seen. Permissive yet hypocritical. You had Dean Rivers send my son to anger management. It's a pity you let _my_ child suffer for _your_ rage issues."

Jennifer rolled her eyes, walking out of the desk area, as her black heels tapped against the floor with every step she took to close the door. It closed with a slam, but she let her hand rest on the cold, silver doorknob. Jennifer turned around, letting out a breath she forgot she was holding, and sent a scathing look to her ex-husband, who had made himself comfortable.

He was right.

Malcolm was _fucking_ right.

She always had this cold personality, with a scorching hot temper. So, as a parent, when she heard that voice mail leak throughout the internet, she saw herself in Logan. He inherited many things from her – his ability to talk his way out of anything, his charm, and when he smiled, it was a carbon copy – but she secretly didn't want Logan to inherit her temper.

Jennifer always wanted Malcolm to disappear but that didn't happen either.

Her emerald orbs were light aflame with the anger she somewhat hated, but really couldn't control.

"Don't you ever analyze my parenting, Malcolm!" she growled, jabbing one of her French manicured fingers in his chest. "Besides, punishing Logan when he bought a car he couldn't drive, what parenting have you done? While you were off acting like the man-whore I know you still are, I was the main parent raising three children by myself! So, what? I sent Logan to take anger management courses for the next couple of months! It's my motherly – no parental – duty to see sure _our_ son is a well-rounded individual, so if you came to chastise me for that, then leave! Just get the hell out of my office, and possibly my life!"

"Jenny – "

He broke her.

He damaged in ways she herself couldn't even begin to comprehend. _Jenny Donahue_ was a sixteen-year-old rebellious girl that was attending St. Mary's Academy for Girls before it was torn down. Across the lake, there sat Pacific Coast Academy way before girls were allowed. At the annual dance between the two boarding schools, it was there that she laid eyes on him. Malcolm Reese.

Jenny Donahue was young, naïve and simply foolish.

As Jennifer Donahue-Reese, she was in control, and had a sense of trust. She knew what mistrust was, and that never went away, ten years after their divorce, with Logan being a confused six-year-old, Veronica a withdrawn and distant ten-year-old, and Megan was seventeen and angry. The mistrust and animosity stayed with her, and she was sure she would die with it.

Jennifer only used the Reese name for professional purposes, however. That was it. End of story.

Malcolm saw the unshed tears built in his ex-wife's eyes, but dismissed it. He dismissed it for the sake of his own sanity, and his life turned out to be lived like the movies he had directed and produced so effortlessly. Signing those divorce papers and following the conditions of the pre-nuptial agreement wasn't effortless. Those wives he married was like actors in his little soap-like life. Hollywood was all about facades, but he was sucked in so deep, he almost didn't know the difference between acting and real-life.

Jennifer shook her head, her voice sounded broken the first time in a while, "Don't. Please don't do this to me, Malcolm. Don't call me that. That part of my life is over. It's in the past, so it should stay there."

Malcolm was getting frustrated and angry now too, "Don't do what? I didn't love them. I didn't have any feelings for them, damnit! Nothing whatsoever. I did have feelings for my first wife, and the mother of my children! I still do, so I'm going to call you _Jenny_ because that's all you are. If the media hasn't covered it already, then I'll tell you right now that I'm unmarried, and that's why I'm standing here! Underneath this Jennifer front you insist you put up, you are still the girl I fell for even though we were just sixteen."

"I don't believe that," she said, crossing her arms over her chest, as she used a hand to wipe the tears away. "You hurt me deeply. I gave you loyalty, three children, and –"

"Kiss me," Malcolm blurted out, making Jennifer's jaw slightly hang because of the shock. Malcolm never really asked for anything in the span of their really long romance. Jennifer wiped at her eyes again, pursing her lips tightly in thought. It was as if she was silently questioning him. His eyes were a chocolate brown, almost hiding something not even she knew. They were always mysterious. She could tell you that without looking because it was etched in her memories.

"Are you drunk? Because I know I didn't just hear you ask me to kiss you…"

Malcolm said nothing, but his actions said otherwise. Pulling Jennifer into his arms, he kissed her deeply. He kissed her, as if they were almost thirty years back in time. He kissed her, pretending it was their wedding day. He kissed her, pretending that all of his three children were just born. He kissed her, and there were moments where they were truly happy. Jennifer couldn't register what was happening, but soon she found herself experiencing a kiss totally different from the others. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she found herself kissing Malcolm back. It brought them back to a time where they would make out at night at the lake, separating their two boarding schools. She remembered their initials carved into the tree trunk not too far from it. The kiss wasn't demanding, or forceful, but this particular one was sweet, and almost gentle.

Jennifer pulled away slowly, opening her green eyes. In them, were confusion, even though she couldn't help but feel a bit of tranquility as well. She blinked a couple times, and suppressed the blush that was going to settle in her cheeks.

Malcolm smirked good-naturedly, "You taste like a Double Chocolaty Frappuccino Blended Crème. The ones from Starbucks…"

Jennifer couldn't help but smirk back, and lightly but playfully swatted him on the shoulder, "Buy me one Movie Man…" she laughed lightly. "Malcolm, how are we going to explain this to the kids? I see Logan at PCA soon."

Malcolm looked deep in thought, and then brushed the wisps of light brown hair, slightly obstructing her eyes.

"…and I'll be filming in Madrid soon, so I'm seeing Ronnie. And then I'll be back to check on Morgan and Brent," he replied, figuring it out in his head. He sighed, shrugging. "We'll, figure something out. You're Jennifer, the head honcho here, right?"

"Yeah," she replied, grabbing her black clutch purse containing her car keys, and clipping her hair so that it was in the same style. Jennifer swept some lip gloss on her lips, and closed it putting it in the black purse. Straightening herself out one more time, she planted a kiss on his cheek. Jennifer smiled softly, with a glint of playfulness, dancing in her eyes. "It's _Jenny_, you square. Now, lead me to Starbucks, pronto…"

Malcolm opened the door for her, and as they bantered like old times, walking through the halls of the office building, they knew they were going to be okay.

"Psh, Malcolm Reese is no square…"

"Okay, then you're a rectangle. Deal with it."

"Why a rectangle?"

"Okay, fine," came Jennifer's voice, tinged with annoyance as she rolled her eyes. "You're a parallelogram. And why the hell are we arguing about shapes? I hate geometry!"

"You also hate the Rolling Stones, and you know they were epic…"

"Malcolm, if The Rolling Stones were epic, then Queen _is_ legendary, so there!"

Yes, reconciliation over Starbucks was very ordinary. Starbucks really made perspectives change…

--

It was really wrong and insane.

It was so confusing, and they both couldn't comprehend why they were even dating. In a way, Michael's laughter of disbelief, as he clacked was relief to them. As Michael's distant clacking was heard, they could only share mutual smiles.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! OW! I hate this so much!"

There was that comfortable silence that hung over the secret couple. They could very well tell people that they were in a relationship. They could casually walk into a lounge, with their hands magically interlocked. But it would disrupt the status quo of things. She was smart, and resourceful. He was charming, and charismatic, but disrupting PCA's status quo was something they couldn't handle.

So, Logan and Quinn continued to hide their love affair.

"I wasn't kidding when I said you had the prettiest eyes," he said, closing the door Michael had left open. It really made her smile, and her cheeks became rosy, as he wrapped her in his arms as she was against the door, making it hard for anyone to come inside. She giggled.

"Logan, I have an AP Physics test to study for tomorrow. You know that…"

"Damn, and then there's that chemistry thing that I'm sure to pass," Logan replied, with a playful and cheeky smirk. "…but I won't keep you hostage this time, Pensky, even though I'll suffer from Quinn-withdrawal."

"Okay, okay," Quinn complied, with a sigh and a playful roll of her eyes. She smiled, and leaned as Logan captured her lips with his, again. She felt her eyes flutter closed, and her arms wrap around his neck. His hands just fit at her waist, and there was a figure Quinn didn't know she had. Mark called her pretty, but Logan called her beautiful in between those secret meetings, and Eskimo kisses they shared.

Quinn pulled away from her boyfriend's lips, but not his arms. They were too warm.

"You really don't want me to go, don't you?"

"No," he replied, kissing her hair. "…but there's this Starbucks that just opened up like a fifteen minute walk away from PCA. Wanna go? Their Honey Lattes are insane."

Quinn looked thoughtful and slightly alarmed, "But won't someone see us together?"

"Yeah, I know, but no one will see us if we meet up at the back entrance of PCA, and give our roommates some kind of alibi," Logan explained, and tapped the side of his head with an assuring smile, which made Quinn smile a bit too. He pressed his lips to her forehead. "See? I can be smart too, you know…"

"Well, I'm impressed with your logic," she said, pressing a quick kiss to his lips. "Okay, it's a date then, and I've always wanted to try their Espresso. I'll go with you, Logan."

They hugged tightly in agreement. She never wanted to forget the smell of cologne, and he never wanted to forget the scent of strawberries she carried when they walked past each other, giving each other discrete loving gazes. He could hear her whisper in his hair, so delicately, as if the walls had ears, and would disclose the sweet secret they were keeping.

"I love Starbucks," she whispered, brushing her lips against his tanned cheek. With another smile, she was gone. Logan couldn't help but allow his hand to grace the spot on his cheek. It slightly tingled with the ghost of her lips still there. And some strange reason, he never wanted that sensation to go away. Not yet.

"Me too, Quinn. I love Starbucks too…"

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**A/N: So, this came out better than I expected. I told you there was some relevance to Zoey 101. I just had Starbucks recently, and it stayed there in my head for a while, so this story was born. There's a Chase/Zoey/Logan video on Youtube you should all see. It's called 'All About Us', and it's intense. So I advise you guys to watch that. **

**The Logan/Quinn moment happens after Michael walks out of the room laughing in Walk-A-Thon, just to clear that up. So, I had an idea, well, I mentioned this earlier, so I'll say it here. **

**I was hoping Zoey 101 writers could write each other flashfics (oneshots/drabble) about the prompts or ideas about what should be in the oneshot. Anything goes. Pairings. Genre. Situation. Anything. So, I'll start, I guess, but let me know what you think of that idea. I'm hoping that it starts to catch on. Oh, and if you go on my profile, there's a new Chase Matthews pledge there, if you agree, put it on your profile, and spread the word. **

**This is the last thing I'll say because I'm feeling chatty. Ever wonder if the cast ever come on here, and read the stories we write about their characters? My face would be so red if that ever happened and they actually read my stuff, lol. It was just a thought. **

**Okay, review since I've bored you all to death. **

**-Erika **


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